BMW's electric superbike, eRR!

Snapshot: This is an all new electric sportsbike concept from BMW based on the iconic S1000RR.

Electric motorcycles are slowly becoming a more viable option with time. Almost all of the major motorcycle manufacturers has tried their hands on battery powered machines one time or the other. Companies such as Zero Motorcycles are a pioneers in this domain, as they have set the standards really high when electric motorcycles are talked about.

The German automobile manufacturer has recently unveiled the electric-powered S1000RR prototype motorcycle. It is a superbike powered by batteries. The company has named the motorcycle as BMW eRR and unlike Harley-Davidson Live Wire, eRR is supposed to be a production motorcycle. It utilises the chassis of its litre-class superbike and it can said as the BMW’s first solid step in the direction of high-performance electric mobility. This is not the first time the company has come up with an electric vehicle like this, as the company already has the C Evolution, a super-quick electric scooter, i3 electric car and the i8 hybrid sports car in its portfolio.

“Since their market launch, the RR is giving the creeps to motorsport athletes … acceleration, handling or topspeed — the RR is setting standards,” said Stephan Schaller, Head of BMW Motorrad. However, he goes on to state that the 199-horsepower superbike is bested in acceleration from 50-60 kph by the little C evolution scooter.

BMW has called the eRR as the experimental vehicle which means, it might take quite some time before the company actually rolls out the production version of the eRR. The concept bike is expected to make its first official public debut at the EICMA show in Milan, Italy after few days from now.

The mass production Zero SR and the upcoming Victory Empulse motorcycles has fuelled the world’s interest in electric motorcycles. The LS-218, which is an offering from from the American electric motorcycle maker, Lightning Motorcycles is the world’s fastest electric motorcycle in production. On the other hand, the European Energica EGO can hit 60 mph from a standstill in 3 seconds, and continue all the way to 150 mph.

It was in 2010 when the legendary Isle of Man TT race hosted the TT Zero, an all-electric motorsport event for the first time in its history.Participating machines were developed by MIT, Kingston University, and Portland-based MotoCzysz.

So the market is ripe for a high performance electric entry from BMW. Details are slim at the moment, the technical specification of the BMW eRR has not been announced yet. Stay tuned to BikePortal for more updates on the same and don’t forget to share your views in the comment section below.